It’s Thanksgiving Week, which makes it the perfect time to study a few HR holiday tips to make sure your business runs as smoothly as ever through the end of November. Proponents of ban-the-box laws are also celebrating this week as the landmark legislation turns 20. Do you conduct business in a ban-the-box city or state? Finally, remember that drug use often spikes during holidays, so there may be some job-seekers or employees stocking up on “fake urine” just in case they need to pass a drug test in the next month. Find out how effective this commonplace substance is in today’s Weekend Roundup:

Thanksgiving. It means something different to each and every one of us in the USA. Beginning in the early 1600s New England, this tradition of giving thanks and gathering family and friends with a feast after a season of farming has become America’s holiday regardless of your personal religion. We treat it as a secular holiday every year on the fourth Thursday of the month and everyone is welcome to participate!

For some it means the beginning of holiday shopping season . . . of course Black Friday follows, and this has become blurred with most retailers opening on Thanksgiving, too.

For many HR executives, this holiday brings with it challenges, too, as businesses, specifically retail in nature, are now open for a part of the day — or all day. A decade ago this was one of only a couple of days on the calendar that businesses outside of essential services were shut down. Other industries including restaurants, entertainment, and hotels are challenged similarly with an end-of-year busy season that starts on Thanksgiving and ends on New Year’s Day.

In the summer of 1998, Hawaii passed a law restricting employers from considering candidates’ criminal history until a job offer had been made. When Minnesota followed suit a decade later, a nationwide movement was born.

“Ban-the-box” laws requiring employers to remove criminal-history questions from employment applications have been enacted in 33 states and more than 150 cities and counties.

Primarily covering the public sector, many ban-the-box laws also apply to private-sector employers, seeking to protect applicants and candidates convicted of a crime from automatic disqualification during the selection process. In some cases, employers can inquire or check for criminal history after conducting a first interview; others must wait until they’ve extended a job offer.